Santana’s Start Helps Mets Forget Finish

In his first start as a Met, Johan Santana gave up 2 runs and had 8 strikeouts in 7 innings. Credit
Doug Benc/Getty Images

MIAMI — The beauty of opening day lies in its simplicity. Nothing that happened before — not yesterday, not last week, not 182 days ago — mattered Monday afternoon, when the Mets faced the Florida Marlins in their first game since the Collapse.

Yet in a way, no one symbolized those dark days more than Johan Santana, who was not even there. His off-season arrival was born of that desire to help everyone forget, to help everyone heal. There is much to look forward to in 2008 if he pitches the way he did as the Mets defeated the Marlins, 7-2, at Dolphin Stadium, a victory fueled by David Wright’s bases-clearing double that capped a six-run fourth inning.

“Who doesn’t want to have Santana on their ball club?” said Carlos Beltrán, who had two doubles and scored the Mets’ first run. “We feel blessed.”

It was a small dose of revenge, about six months too late, for how the Marlins marched into Shea Stadium last Sept. 30 and thrashed the Mets in the regular-season finale, an agonizing coda to a miserable two and a half weeks. Throughout spring training, on days when Santana started, he would invariably play down his role by repeating this mantra: he was not going to do anything crazy, he was only there to pitch. If what he offered Monday was nothing crazy — seven innings, two runs, three hits, eight strikeouts — the Mets will take that every time.

So, too, apparently, would the Mets fans here. As Santana walked toward the dugout after throwing his 100th and final pitch of the day, finishing off a swinging strikeout of Matt Treanor, they stood and hailed their new ace: St. Johan.

“I’m here trying to do my job and at the same time trying to please a lot of people,” Santana said. “I’m very happy to be part of this team, and it’s always nice and good when you see that you get those kinds of ovations by the fans. I’m very excited. I’m just going to keep doing my job and keep people happy and clapping.”

There was no need for wholesale administrative and personnel renovations after the way last season ended, though the Mets, resigned to losing Tom Glavine, planned to add a starting pitcher anyway. They waited and waited — Jeff Wilpon, the team’s chief operating officer, bet General Manager Omar Minaya a pair of shoes that Santana would not become available to them — as the Red Sox and the Yankees made tepid bids for him.

Photo

Jorge Cantu of the Florida Marlins breaks up a double-play by Jose Reyes.Credit
Doug Benc/Getty Images

The trade was consummated in late January but completed four days later after intense negotiations for his six-year, $137.5 million contract (and the requisite physical exam). It introduced perhaps the final piece in a World Series contending team, reinvigorated a disillusioned fan base, and yielded a bona fide stopper, which the Mets sorely missed at times last season.

For that reason, there was just a little more anticipation than usual heading into Monday’s opener. Santana had fond memories of his last (and only) start here, last June 24, when he hit the only triple of his career and pitched well, too, in notching the victory.

The Santana era commenced with — what else? — a first-pitch strike, a 90-mile-an-hour fastball that Hanley Ramírez waved at. It got better from there. Santana struck him out, needed eight pitches to mow through that first inning, 33 to set the Marlins down in order the first time through the lineup.

“He threw even better than he looked,” Manager Willie Randolph said.

Historically, the Mets’ lineup had trouble with Florida starter Mark Hendrickson, going 2 for 29, and his first three innings matched Santana’s if not in domination, then in results: all zeros. Only toward the end of spring training did the Mets, ravaged by injuries, start developing continuity, and some players who missed varying amounts of time delivered in the pivotal fourth.

The first four hitters — Beltrán (double), Carlos Delgado (walk), Ángel Pagán (run-scoring double) and Ryan Church (run-scoring single) — reached base in building a 2-0 lead. José Reyes poked a two-out single to left, scoring Pagán, whose terrific camp tempered the loss of Moises Alou. After Luis Castillo walked, Wright lined a 2-2 fastball into the left-center-field gap, with the ball rolling all the way to the wall, and the Mets’ lead doubling.

“Johan’s throwing the way he’s throwing, and you drop a six-spot in an inning, you might as well put up a white flag,” Wright said.

Not surprisingly, the Marlins did not. Josh Willingham broke up the no-hitter and shutout by mashing a flat changeup for a two-run homer. From there, Santana gave up two hits and recorded six of his final 10 outs via strikeouts, including Alfredo Amézaga and Ramírez with two on in the fifth.

“He smells strikeouts,” catcher Brian Schneider said.

Butting in, Church said of Schneider, “All he had to do was stick his fingers down.”

Everyone laughed. Indeed, why not? The Mets scored seven runs, got two scoreless innings from the bullpen and, of course, saw that those two Cy Young awards Santana earned with Minnesota were well deserved. All is well with the Mets again, just as they expected.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: Santana’s Start Helps Mets Forget Finish. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe